Not a single woman has passed the National Armed Forces (NBS) Special Tasks Unit (SUV) infantry training course since the restoration of independence of Latvia, as reported by NBS.
On Tuesday, 6 September, the government supported adoption of National Defence Service in Latvia. During the meeting Education and Science Minister Anita Muižniece asked about the reasons why military service will not be mandatory for women.
Minister of Defence Artis Pabriks had this to say: «You see, if we need SUV capable of being on par or better than other SUV and use the principle 50% men and 50% women or whatever, we will have a helpless unit.»
This response from the minister caused a wave of criticism from social networks. In the evening after the meeting Pabriks posted on Twitter that everything revolves around efficiency and ability to to meet requirements, not strict gender proportionality.
«The number of women in Latvia’s military continues growing. We will continue creating an environment to ensure continued growth of the number of women in the army,» stressed the minister.
NBS told LETA there is not gender discrimination in SUV. All people are given equal opportunities. To become a candidate, potential recruits have to pass psychological evaluation and five physical tests.
These tests include 60 push-ups in two minutes, 60 sit-ups in two minutes, 12 pull-ups in a single turn, 1 500 m swim in 50 minutes, as well as a 10 km cross in 50 minutes.
This is the minimal bar. The better the results, the higher the chances of making it to the next stage.
In the history of Latvian Special Tasks Unit there have been several women who passed the five physical tests, but not a single one has passed the main training course. This training course includes a number of difficult everyday physical and intellectual activities spread over several months.
This is why, considering the high requirements, women in combat groups are relegated mostly to administrative functions, where physical requirements are not as high. Physical tests for women are also lower when compared to men in other NBS units.
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Currently 16% of troops in Latvian National Armed Forces are women.
«With respect of the gender equality principle, women can take any post in National Armed Forces if they successfully pass high standards and professionally perform their duties,» Latvian National Armed Forces stress.
Currently women in NBS are represented in a diverse range of specialities, such as bomb disposal, self-propelled howitzer drivers, mortar maintenance crew commanders, parachuting instructors, ship commanders, machine gunners.